If the Czech Republic is a bellwether, then things might get tough and dry in the future.
Don't take my word for it - check out this story from IPS:
PRAGUE, Jan 22, 2011 (IPS) - Half of the Czech Republic’s population could face water shortages because of climate change, a top climate change expert has warned.
The country has become one of the driest in the EU, according to local media, and climatologists say the land, and crucial underground water supplies, are drying up.
Professor Michal Marek, head of the EU-funded CzechGlobe climate change research project, told IPS: "The Czech Republic is already seeing the effects of climate change in more frequent extreme weather events and changes in biodiversity.
"But possibly the most important change is in the increasing drying out of the landscape as drier periods get longer and are followed by bursts of intense rainfall which the dry soil cannot absorb. This has a very significant effect on underground water supplies."
Climatologists and meteorologists in central Europe have said that the region is seeing more and more extreme weather including long periods of dry and hot weather in the summer, severe flooding and bitter winter weather.
How about this:
A report in Czech media this week claimed that 50 percent of Czechs – the proportion of the population reliant on underground water supplies – were facing water shortages because of falling underground water levels.
Some hydrologists questioned the claim as being alarmist but Professor Marek told IPS: "I absolutely agree with this figure. It is completely realistic from my point of view, even though it would, of course, be a terrible situation.
"Problems with water supplies will only get worse and will be the single biggest problem posed by climate change to affect the Czech Republic in the future, worse than changes to biodiversity or anything else."
Ecological groups such as the Czech branch of Friends of the Earth, say that measures must be taken to ensure that water is not lost, such as reversing river courses which, over decades, have been artificially straightened and has left them less able to retain water.
Professor Marek added: "The solution is landscape planning to prevent water running off the land such as changing the use of land, agricultural practices and natural features that help retain water."
Doesn't sound too good. Read more here.
"To enter Europe, you must have a valid passport with a photograph of yourself in which you look like you are being booked on charges of soliciting sheep." -- Dave Barry
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